Then He spoke many things to them in parables, saying: "Behold, a sower went out to sow"

 

 On the same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the sea.  And great multitudes were gathered together to Him, so that He got into a boat and sat; and the whole multitude stood on the shore.  Then He spoke many things to them in parables, saying:  "Behold, a sower went out to sow.  And as he sowed, some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds came and devoured them.  Some fell on stony places, where they did not have much earth; and they immediately sprang up because they had no depth of earth.  But when the sun was up they were scorched, and because they had no root they withered away.  And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up and choked them.  But others fell on good ground and yielded a crop:  some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.  He who has ears to hear, let him hear!"

 

- Matthew 13:1-9 

 

In yesterday's reading, Jesus said to the Pharisees and scribes who had accused Him of casting out demons by the power of demons:  "When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest, and finds none.  Then he says, 'I will return to my house from which I came.'  And when he comes, he finds it empty, swept, and put in order.  Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of that man is worse than the first.  So shall it also be with this wicked generation."  While He was still talking to the multitudes, behold, His mother and brothers stood outside, seeking to speak with Him.  Then one said to Him, "Look, Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside, seeking to speak with You."  But He answered and said to the one who told Him, "Who is My mother and who are My brothers?"  And He stretched out His hand toward His disciples and said, "Here are My mother and My brothers!  For whoever does the will of My Father in heaven is My brother and sister and mother."   

On the same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the sea.  And great multitudes were gathered together to Him, so that He got into a boat and sat; and the whole multitude stood on the shore.  Then He spoke many things to them in parables, saying:  "Behold, a sower went out to sow.  And as he sowed, some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds came and devoured them.  Some fell on stony places, where they did not have much earth; and they immediately sprang up because they had no depth of earth.  But when the sun was up they were scorched, and because they had no root they withered away.  And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up and choked them.  But others fell on good ground and yielded a crop:  some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.  He who has ears to hear, let him hear!"  My study Bible comments on today's reading that in the Old Testament, metaphors of sowing and harvesting are common (Psalm 126:5; Jeremiah 31:27-30; Hosea 2:21-23; Joel 3:12-14).  This is because such activity was part of daily life for the people.  Here, Jesus reveals Himself as the promised Messiah.  He is the sower in the earth, who had been foretold in Isaiah 55:10-13.

In today's reading, Jesus introduces parables into His ministry.  He begins with this key parable to all the rest of them, the parable of the Sower.  Above, we note that my study Bible explains the Sower is Christ Himself.  He sows His word.  In our following readings, Jesus Himself will be explaining the parable to His disciples.  But let's consider the setting.  As He goes and preaches by the sea, we're told, great multitudes were gathered together to Him.  So much so, that He got into a boat and sat to speak to them.  His position of sitting while the crowds listen standing on the shore is significant, for this is a position of a teacher.  But the great question is, why in parables?  And why now?  Certainly yesterday's reading holds one clue for us.  He spoke to the Pharisees and the scribes about an unclean spirit cast out of a person, an unclean spirit who can't find rest in the "dry places" he goes to afterward.  So he returns to the person who's like a house empty, swept, and put in order -- but takes seven spirits more wicked than himself.  If we understand Christ's teaching, He's telling the Pharisees (and us) that it's of no use merely to meet the basic standards of "clean" life, if we are not actively pursuing a deeper faith with God.  We want an indwelling of the Holy Spirit, an active and deepening journey of faith in which we pursue God for such depth and closeness.  We want to draw near to God with our hearts, not just our lips, so to speak.  So today, as these great multitudes now come to Him, Jesus effectively challenges the crowds.  They're going to have to make an effort to discern what He's talking about.  He's not going to simply feed people with mysteries and meanings and revelations if they're not committed to such a gift in the first place.  They have to have ears to hear.  That is, God wants us to have spiritual ears to hear with, to deeply desire what is offered so that we cultivate this kind of perception, as best we can.  My study Bible describes parables as stories in word-pictures, which reveal spiritual truth.  They give us seemingly simple pictures of daily life, but represent and communicate the deep things of God.  It notes, "Parables give us glimpses of Him whose thoughts are not our thoughts and whose ways are not our ways (Isaiah 55:8-9)."  The images in parables give us stories, as Christ understood human beings to need stories.  They reveal truth through a responsive heart that will ponder past the "entrance" and into the reality of God's Kingdom.  They are things that we can chew on, think about through the periods of our lives, and experience as revelatory from a number of angles as we do.  So let us be drawn in.  Everybody loves a story, and these stories come from Christ so that we might be drawn in to listen to Him, and reap a harvest of the Kingdom.  

Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of that man is worse than the first

 

 "When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest, and finds none.  Then he says, 'I will return to my house from which I came.'  And when he comes, he finds it empty, swept, and put in order.  Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of that man is worse than the first.  So shall it also be with this wicked generation."  

While He was still talking to the multitudes, behold, His mother and brothers stood outside, seeking to speak with Him.  Then one said to Him, "Look, Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside, seeking to speak with You."  But He answered and said to the one who told Him, "Who is My mother and who are My brothers?"  And He stretched out His hand toward His disciples and said, "Here are My mother and My brothers!  For whoever does the will of My Father in heaven is My brother and sister and mother." 

 

- Matthew 12:43-50 

 

On Saturday, we read Jesus' remarks to the Pharisees who had accused Him of casting out demons by the power of Beelzebub, whom they called the ruler of the demons.  Jesus said, "Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or else make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for a tree is known by its fruit.  Brood of vipers!  How can you, being evil, speak good things?  For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.  A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things.  But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment.  For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.  Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered, saying, "Teacher, we want to see a sign from You."  But He answered and said to them, "An evil an adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.  For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.  The men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and indeed a greater than Jonah is here.  The queen of the South will rise up in judgment with this generation and condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and indeed a greater than Solomon is here."

 

  "When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest, and finds none.  Then he says, 'I will return to my house from which I came.'  And when he comes, he finds it empty, swept, and put in order.  Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of that man is worse than the first.  So shall it also be with this wicked generation."   My study Bible comments that when the Israelites were delivered out of Egypt, they did not repent of their impure ways, and an unclean spirit took up residence in their hearts (Deuteronomy 31:20; Psalm 106:34-39).  So, therefore, we are to guard our hearts.  Unless there is full repentance and the Holy Spirit dwells in a person, my study Bible explains, an expelled demon will return with others and re-occupy its above.  

While He was still talking to the multitudes, behold, His mother and brothers stood outside, seeking to speak with Him.  Then one said to Him, "Look, Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside, seeking to speak with You."  But He answered and said to the one who told Him, "Who is My mother and who are My brothers?"  And He stretched out His hand toward His disciples and said, "Here are My mother and My brothers!  For whoever does the will of My Father in heaven is My brother and sister and mother."  My study Bible comments that Christ's relatives have not yet understood His identity and mission.  He points to a spiritual family which is based on obedience to the will of My Father.  My study Bible adds that in Jewish usage, brother can indicate any number of relations.  It cites Abram who called his nephew Lot "brother" (Genesis 14:14); Boaz who spoke of his cousin Elimemlech as his "brother" in Ruth 4:3; and Joab who referred to his cousin Amasa as "brother" (see 2 Samuel 20:9).  My study Bible adds that Christ Himself had no blood brothers, as Mary had only one Son:  Jesus.  The brothers who are mentioned here were either stepbrothers, sons of Joseph by a previous marriage, or cousins.  At the Cross, Jesus commits His mother to the care of His disciple John (John 19:25-27).  This would have been unthinkable if Mary had had other children to care for her.  

We might find Jesus' words strange, in the early part of today's reading.  He speaks of a person as a kind of a house, in which an unclean spirit once dwelt.  But the spirit goes out into the world and finds only "dry places," and finds no rest.  The spirit returns to the house to find it cleaned up, swept, and in order.  And so the unclean spirit gathers "seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of that man is worse than the first."   We should remember that He is speaking to the Pharisees (and scribes) who have accused Him of casting out demons by the power of demons; even by the power of "Beelzebub" whom they call the ruler of the demons.  This is a warning to them about the importance of spiritual consistency.  That is, it is not enough to be "cleaned and swept," to follow all the rules that declare holiness or cleanliness.  But it is essential to be more than that, to be consistent and persistent in our faith, so that we are actively involved with prayer and the love of God in what we do, and seeking God's way for us in our lives.  As He will remind them in the words of Isaiah, "These people draw near to Me with their mouth, and honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me" (Matthew 15:8). Recently I heard a sermon on the passage of the woman with the twelve year flow of blood (or hemorrhage) as told in this reading.  The priest giving the sermon pointed out that what was necessary in her case was that she took the initiative -- she reached out to Christ with faith.  She touched the hem of His garment in hope of being healed.  It seems that Christ's preaching to the Pharisees in today's reading backs up that understanding of the passage.  It's not enough that we simply take care that we are doing no wrong.  Instead, our seemingly passionate, "jealous" and loving God wants us to take the initiative, and be as involved as we can be with God's healing embrace, and especially calling upon the energies and power of Christ, as did that woman with the twelve year flow of blood.  We are to be engaged with our faith, active in it, even if that means we devote time to prayer, we participate in our sacraments and services, we call upon God for help, we engage as actively as we can so that the Holy Spirit dwells in us.  For everything we read in the Gospels affirms the notion that we need to be actively engaged in pursuit of God, like that woman.  We need to affirm our commitments and grow in our faith, and if that is difficult, then we need at least to be asking, seeking, and knocking (Matthew 7:7).  In the second part of today's reading, we understand that those whom He will consider to be close to Him, His family, are those who seek the will of the Father and to do it -- and this is yet another affirmation that we need to be actively engaged in seeking our faith.  For the Lord wants those who will return His love.  As Jesus, He came into the world seeking His own, with a mission to save, to endure the Cross and human death in order to make it possible for all of us to dwell with Him.  That kind of love does not want those who are lukewarm, but those who can return that love.  A few readings earlier, we read that Jesus taught, "And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force" (Matthew 11:12, in this reading).  One way of interpreting that passage is to understand the ardent zeal with which those who would belong to this Kingdom are pressing into it, desiring to be a part of it, and use of the word "violence" is meant in this sense.  Let us consider, in the world which we might often find simply "lukewarm" to our faith, what it means to passionately pursue Christ, as we would pursue One who is beloved and dear to us.  Let us make our own pursuit of faith as much an ardent priority as He did His pursuit of us and our salvation to be with Him. 

 

 

A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things

 

 "Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or else make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for a tree is known by its fruit.  Brood of vipers!  How can you, being evil, speak good things?  For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.  A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things.  But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment.  For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.  

Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered, saying, "Teacher, we want to see a sign from You."  But He answered and said to them, "An evil an adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.  For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.  The men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and indeed a greater than Jonah is here.  The queen of the South will rise up in judgment with this generation and condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and indeed a greater than Solomon is here."

 

- Matthew 12:33-42 

 

Yesterday we read that one was brought to Christ who was demon-possessed, blind and mute; and He healed him, so that the blind and mute man both spoke and saw.  And all the multitudes were amazed and said, "Could this be the Son of David?"  Now when the Pharisees heard it they said, "This fellow does not cast out demons except by Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons."  But Jesus knew their thoughts, and said to them:  "Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself will not stand.  If Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself.  How then will his kingdom stand?  And if I cast out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your sons cast them out?  Therefore they shall be your judges.  But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you.  Or how can one enter a strong man's house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man?  And then he will plunder his house.  He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters abroad. Therefore I say to you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven men.   Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, neither in this age or in the age to come."

 

  "Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or else make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for a tree is known by its fruit.  Brood of vipers!  How can you, being evil, speak good things?  For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.  A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things.  But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment.  For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned."  Jesus here uses a title for the Pharisees whom He addresses, "Brood of vipers."  This is a title for them that was earlier used by John the Baptist (Matthew 3:7).  Brood means "offspring," and vipers are an allusion to demonic forces, in addition to the description of one who may be venomous in attacking others.  To be "viperous" is defined as one who is spitefully vituperative or venomous.  In Scripture, my study Bible explains, the heart refers to the center of consciousness, the seat of the intellect and the will, and also the place from which spiritual life proceeds.  It notes that when God's grace permeates the heart, it masters the body and guides all actions and thought.  But on the contrary, when malice and evil capture the heart, a person becomes full of darkness and spiritual confusion.  Here Jesus' pronouncements upon these Pharisees and their every idle word refers to their claim (in yesterday's reading, above) that Jesus cast out demons by the power of Beelzebub, understood as the ruler of the demons.

 

 Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered, saying, "Teacher, we want to see a sign from You."  But He answered and said to them, "An evil an adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.  For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.  The men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and indeed a greater than Jonah is here.  The queen of the South will rise up in judgment with this generation and condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and indeed a greater than Solomon is here."  My study Bible comments that after so many signs, the Pharisees show their wickedness by demanding yet another.  Jesus does not cater to those who demand a sign out of malicious or wicked intent.  The only sign to them, as He indicates here, will be His Passion and Resurrection.  My study Bible also refers to a commentary by St. Ambrose, who writes that unrighteous people, if they do not recognize Jesus as the Christ, will never understand His words nor recognize His miracles.  Adulterous generation was the term the prophets used for Israel, when Israel was unfaithful to God (Jeremiah 3; Hosea 2:2-13).  

Jesus makes it more clear in today's reading that the failure to discern what is holy rests with the beholder, the one who fails to receive and understand.  Jesus' frequent iterations of "He who has ears to hear, let him hear!" testify to the same idea (Matthew 11:15,13:9, 13:43).  But in this case in today's reading, Jesus is not speaking to the average person.  These are scribes and Pharisees, experts in the Law, in the Scriptures, and in their interpretation, who spend all their time debating such questions.  How can they miss the indications that Jesus is the Christ?  They are too busy protecting their positions of authority and power.  So, they demand a sign, although there have already been so many signs performed by Jesus.  But in the minds of these men, they are the ones who are authoritative, and it is in their power to rule on what is what.  Jesus has defied them, and so they come up with ways to challenge what He does, including declaring that He works with demonic forces to perform His works, such as the exorcism of the blind and mute man in yesterday's reading (see above).  Jesus goes right to the "heart" of the matter, so to speak, and pronounces that the evil things people do come from an evil heart, an internal kind of disorder which reflects an unwillingness to repent; that is, to seek to know the good and to do the work of rejecting impulses or habits that keep us from a deeper participation in God's life for us.  Jesus notes a tie between what is in the heart, and the words that come out of our mouths, for better or worse, good or evil:  "For out of the abundance of the heart the mouths speaks."   The scribes and Pharisees dig in even more deeply by responding to Christ's chastisement with a demand for a proof from Him.  This results in a judgment of condemnation by Christ.  Jesus cites those figures of the Old Testament who recognized the God of Israel although they were not Hebrews:  the men of Nineveh who repented at Jonah's preaching (Jonah 3:4-6) and the Queen of the South who recognized the wisdom of Solomon and honored it (1 Kings 10:1-13).  These will in fact rise at the judgment to condemn these religious leaders of the Jews, who have abandoned their duties to the people and failed to recognize God's work among them, the "greater than Solomon" who is here in front of them.  All of these things teach us that each of us have a spiritual responsibility to God whether we want to acknowledge that or not.  But of those who already have a particular spiritual knowledge or understanding, a greater responsibility is demanded.  This is the reason for Christ's particular harsh words for these religious leaders.  So we must consider our own spiritual movement forward in faith, and take quite seriously what we learn on the way.  For we will be responsible for what we know, and we will receive challenges to move more deeply into our faith. At a time when many do not take matters of faith seriously, we should consider the warnings of Christ here, for that is what they are.  They are made so that all people know the truth, and so that all consider repentance, and left to us -- to posterity.  Let us be those who can take them seriously, and guide our lives to a good outcome in faith.  Christ reminds us that the treasure of our heart -- good or evil -- is up to us. 

 

 

 

But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you

 

 Then one was brought to Him who was demon-possessed, blind and mute; and He healed him, so that the blind and mute man both spoke and saw.  And all the multitudes were amazed and said, "Could this be the Son of David?"  Now when the Pharisees heard it they said, "This fellow does not cast out demons except by Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons."  But Jesus knew their thoughts, and said to them:  "Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself will not stand.  If Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself.  How then will his kingdom stand?  And if I cast out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your sons cast them out?  Therefore they shall be your judges.  But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you.  Or how can one enter a strong man's house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man?  And then he will plunder his house.  He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters abroad. 

 

"Therefore I say to you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven men.   Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, neither in this age or in the age to come." 

- Matthew 12:22-32 

 

Yesterday we read that when Jesus knew that the Pharisees began to plot how they could destroy Him, He withdrew from there.  And great multitudes followed Him, and He healed them all.  Yet He warned them not to make Him known, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying:  "Behold!  My Servant whom I have chosen, My Beloved in whom My soul is well pleased!  I will put My Spirit upon Him, and He will declare justice to the Gentiles.  He will not quarrel nor cry out, nor will anyone hear His voice in the streets.  A bruised reed He will not break, and smoking flax He will not quench, till He sends forth justice to victory; and in His name Gentiles will trust." 

 

  Then one was brought to Him who was demon-possessed, blind and mute; and He healed him, so that the blind and mute man both spoke and saw.  And all the multitudes were amazed and said, "Could this be the Son of David?"  Now when the Pharisees heard it they said, "This fellow does not cast out demons except by Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons."  But Jesus knew their thoughts, and said to them:  "Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself will not stand.  If Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself.  How then will his kingdom stand?  And if I cast out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your sons cast them out?  Therefore they shall be your judges.  But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you.  Or how can one enter a strong man's house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man?  And then he will plunder his house.  He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters abroad."  My study Bible explains that Beelzebub, which was another name for a form of Baal, was the prince of "the dung heap" or lord of "the flies."  This was a god worshiped by the Philistines (2 Kings 1:2-16).  Here, he is called the ruler of the demons.  The impossibility of demons fighting against themselves, my study Bible says, illustrates the irrational pride and envy of the Pharisees in their opposition to Jesus.  

"Therefore I say to you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven men.   Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, neither in this age or in the age to come."   To blaspheme against the Holy Spirit means blasphemy against the divine activity of the Spirit.  That is, blasphemy against pure goodness.  A sin against the Son of Man is more easily forgiven, my study Bible says, because the Jews did not know much about Christ.  But blasphemy against the Spirit, whose divine activity these men know from the Old Testament, will not be forgiven, as it comes from a willful hardness of heart and a refusal to accept God's mercy.  My study Bible says that the Church Fathers are clear that blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is not an "unforgivable sin"; nor does Jesus ever call it "unforgivable."  St. John Chrysostom teaches that blasphemy against the Holy Spirit would be forgivable if a person were to repent of it.  My study Bible claims that Jesus makes this declaration knowing that those who blaspheme the Spirit are calling pure, divine good "evil," and are beyond repentance by their own choice. 

We see the Pharisees use a rather typical reaction to someone they feel is a threat to their power and authority.  They accuse Jesus of "playing for the other team," so to speak.  They cannot accept that He acts by the "hand" or "finger of God (the Spirit of God, as it says in the text), so they must accuse Him of working with demons.  In particular they name "Beelzebub," another name for a localized god Baal of the Old Testament.  Baal was an extremely commonly worshiped god in ancient times, and had names that varied throughout the Near and Middle East.  Here, as my study Bible says, he is seen as a demon, even the ruler of the demons (the name Baal means "lord").  But Jesus counteracts with a quite simple -- and important -- argument of His own.  How can He be working with demons by throwing out demons (exorcising them)?  Why would the demons act against their own?  As Jesus puts it, "If Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself.  How then will his kingdom stand?"  Jesus frames exorcism as part of a spiritual warfare, framing it as one kingdom fighting against another.  "Or how can one enter a strong man's house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man?  And then he will plunder his house."  He goes on to make it very clear that, in fact, He is the "stronger man" who works with the Spirit of God.  Moreover, it is His power that is truly authoritative.  So much so, that He will displace all others:  "He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters abroad."  This notion of kingdom-against-kingdom is important, for in some sense this is how we understand the action of the Kingdom of God, that it is meant to displace the one called "the prince" (Ephesians 2:2) or "god" (2 Corinthians 4:4) or "ruler of this world" (John 12:31, 14:30, 16:11).  So it would seem that what is important is that we understand Christ's kingdom to be under a different ruler, with different aims, goals, and identity of those who would be its citizens.  In that framework, what we are to understand is that citizenship in Christ's kingdom involves a participation in His work, His "code," so to speak, His goals, and approved actions.  What that means is that when we participate in doing good, on Christ's terms, then we participate in His kingdom. When we pray, when we do charitable deeds, or fast in His name, we are acting in faith in Christ.  When we pray an hours service in our home, attend a liturgy, participate in the sacraments of the Church, we do much more than we're aware of in this "kingdom" battle, for the Spirit of God and God's own angels also facilitate what humans participate in.  We should remember that this is also called an "unseen warfare."  We do not need to conquer all the evil we see in a physical sense to be doing our part.  As St. Paul says, we each have our own role to play in the Body of Christ.  That sense of acting "in His name" is the same sense in which kingdoms, powers, countries act in the "name" of their own allegiance to a government or a ruler, as the case may be.  Doing evil things, on the other hand, means participating in this other "kingdom" that does not act for the good of human beings, and is against the God of love (1 John 4:8).  At this time, these are the things we really must consider.  Whose kingdom do we wish to support in this world?  In whose rule and judgment do we wish to participate?  How can we ourselves be part of the kingdom of God, and by this participation, strengthen it in the world?  As we look around ourselves and our world, let us simply think how important this choice, this participation in the work of the Holy Spirit is at this time.  For we are given these teaching by Christ for a reason, and maybe for just such a time.  Let us also remember what it is to blaspheme against the Holy Spirit, against pure goodness, and what it is on the contrary, to see to live and participate in God's mercy and goodness in this world, even if we also see what is evil.

 

 

 

 

 

 

And in His name Gentiles will trust

 

 But when Jesus knew it, He withdrew from there.  And great multitudes followed Him, and He healed them all.  Yet He warned them not to make Him known, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying:

    "Behold!  My Servant whom I have chosen,

    My Beloved in whom My soul is well pleased!

    I will put My Spirit upon Him,

    And He will declare justice to the Gentiles.  

    He will not quarrel nor cry out, 

    Nor will anyone hear His voice in the streets.

    A bruised reed He will not break,

    And smoking flax He will not quench,

    Till He sends forth justice to victory;

    And in His name Gentiles will trust."

 

- Matthew 12:15-21 

 

 Yesterday we read that at that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath.  And His disciples were hungry, and began to pluck heads of grain and to eat.  And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to Him, "Look, Your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath!"  But He said to them, "Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him:  how he entered the house of God and ate the showbread which was not lawful for him to eat, nor for those who were with him, but only for the priests?  Or have you not read in the law that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath, and are blameless?  Yet I say to you that in this place there is One greater than the temple.  But if you had known what this means, 'I desire mercy and not sacrifice,' you would not have condemned the guiltless.  For the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath."  Now when He had departed from there, He went into their synagogue.  And behold, there was a man who had a withered hand.  And they asked Him, saying, "Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?" -- that they might accuse Him.  Then He said to them, "What man is there among you who has one sheep, and if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not lay hold of it and lift it out?  Of how much more value then is a man than a sheep?  Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath."  Then He said to the man, "Stretch out your hand."  And he stretched it out, and it was restored as whole as the other.  Then the Pharisees went out and plotted against Him, how they might destroy Him.

 

  But when Jesus knew it, He withdrew from there.  And great multitudes followed Him, and He healed them all.  Yet He warned them not to make Him known, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying:  "Behold!  My Servant whom I have chosen, My Beloved in whom My soul is well pleased!  I will put My Spirit upon Him, and He will declare justice to the Gentiles.  He will not quarrel nor cry out, nor will anyone hear His voice in the streets.  A bruised reed He will not break, and smoking flax He will not quench, till He sends forth justice to victory; and in His name Gentiles will trust."   My study Bible explains that our Lord's refusal to fully disclose His identity as Messiah is foreseen by Isaiah (Isaiah 42:1-4, as quoted in the text).  The reasons for this secrecy are as follows.  There is first the growing hostility of the Jewish leaders.  Second, the people misunderstand the Messiah to be an earthly, political leader.  Third, Christ wishes to evoke genuine faith not based solely on marvelous signs.  The Servant prophesied by Isaiah refers first to Jesus Christ, and then by extension to all who follow Him.  In the final line quoted from Isaiah (Isaiah 42:4) we understand that the mission to the Gentiles was foreseen in his prophesy. 

 

My study Bible makes clear that Christ was to be an entirely different kind of Messiah than the one of popular expectation -- and possibly popular desire.  He was not to be a powerful king who would overthrow the Roman rule and establish Israel as its own worldly power.  He was not to be another King David in that same sense.  Most of the conflicts that take place between the religious rulers and Jesus are focused on the idea of authority.  As far as they are concerned, Jesus has no authority.  He has no worldly authority to back Him up.  Not only is He not a king, He has no accomplishments or customary things associated with a king.  He has no worldly power.  He has no army, His followers are not soldiers with weapons and chariots; He doesn't come to conquer in this sense.  Not only that, they will demand impressive signs in order to be impressed enough with "proofs" on demand, and He won't give them.  The only signs He will give are those of His ministry:  His teachings and healings, and the rest of those who follow and become His disciples.  But most of them aren't very impressive in a worldly sense either.  It is this same question of authority that will be repeated over and over again that is the stumbling block, especially to the religious leaders.  They don't recognize His authority, for it doesn't come from worldly matters but from God.  It is a similar sense in which the saints who were to follow Christ are not known for their worldly accomplishments, authority, and power, but for the holiness that comes from what they do and whom it is they touch in the world -- and for this recognition one must have faith, or the capacity or desire for it somewhere deep in the heart.  Isaiah's prophesy of the Suffering Servant, rather than a conquering king, is the picture of this Messiah.  In Isaiah's chapter 53 we're given the picture:  one despised and rejected, a Man of sorrows, One who carried others' griefs and yet was esteemed to have been stricken by God, and led as a lamb to the slaughter.  The chapter is very vivid and very apt, and describes what Christ's ministry would have looked like to most people in its time.  As is so frequently the case, the people believed they needed a great battling king to overthrow the Roman Empire from their land, to solve their problems, to provide everything they wanted.  Just like today, people look to might and power to solve their problems, or put their hope in empire, in weapons and armies, and trust in material power to do battle for them.  But the Savior is a different kind of savior, and our salvation depends upon none of these things.  In which will you put your faith first today?  In Whom?  In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus notes the desires and anxieties of the people, acknowledging the things the Gentiles seem to possess and seek after.  He tells the people, "But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you."  Can we do as He asks?  Will we do that?  In Luke's Gospel, He also asks, "Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?" (Luke 18:8).  In Whom do we trust?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I desire mercy and not sacrifice

 

 At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath.  And His disciples were hungry, and began to pluck heads of grain and to eat.  And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to Him, "Look, Your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath!"  But He said to them, "Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him:  how he entered the house of God and ate the showbread which was not lawful for him to eat, nor for those who were with him, but only for the priests?  Or have you not read in the law that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath, and are blameless?  Yet I say to you that in this place there is One greater than the temple.  But if you had known what this means, 'I desire mercy and not sacrifice,' you would not have condemned the guiltless.  For the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath."

Now when He had departed from there, He went into their synagogue.  And behold, there was a man who had a withered hand.  And they asked Him, saying, "Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?" -- that they might accuse Him.  Then He said to them, "What man is there among you who has one sheep, and if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not lay hold of it and lift it out?  Of how much more value then is a man than a sheep?  Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath."  Then He said to the man, "Stretch out your hand."  And he stretched it out, and it was restored as whole as the other.  Then the Pharisees went out and plotted against Him, how they might destroy Him.

 

- Matthew 12:1-14 

 

In yesterday's reading, Jesus said, "I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and have revealed them to babes.  Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in Your sight.  All things have been delivered to Me by My Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father. Nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him.  Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For My yoke is easy and My burden is light."

 

  At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath.  And His disciples were hungry, and began to pluck heads of grain and to eat.  And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to Him, "Look, Your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath!"  My study Bible explains that the Pharisees are rigid in their legalism.  While the Law allowed plucking a few heads of grain in a neighbor's field (Deuteronomy 23:25), they consider it "reaping" and therefore to be unlawful on the Sabbath.

But He said to them, "Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him:  how he entered the house of God and ate the showbread which was not lawful for him to eat, nor for those who were with him, but only for the priests?  Or have you not read in the law that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath, and are blameless?"  Here Christ provides Old Testament examples of blameless "violations" of the Sabbath, and thereby demonstrates that the law is not absolute over human need or service to God, as my study Bible frames it.  As David and his men partook of the showbread (1 Samuel 21:4-6), it is a prefiguring of the Eucharist.  In the Old Testament the showbread was forbidden to anyone but the priests, but in Christ this heavenly bread is given to all the faithful.

"Yet I say to you that in this place there is One greater than the temple.  But if you had known what this means, 'I desire mercy and not sacrifice,' you would not have condemned the guiltless.  For the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath."  My study Bible comments that Christ, as the Author of the Law, is Lord over all of it.  So therefore, as Lord, He teaches that mercy takes precedence over regulations, ordinances, and ritualistic observances.  

Now when He had departed from there, He went into their synagogue.  And behold, there was a man who had a withered hand.  And they asked Him, saying, "Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?" -- that they might accuse Him.  Then He said to them, "What man is there among you who has one sheep, and if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not lay hold of it and lift it out?  Of how much more value then is a man than a sheep?  Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath."  Then He said to the man, "Stretch out your hand."  And he stretched it out, and it was restored as whole as the other.  Then the Pharisees went out and plotted against Him, how they might destroy Him.  Here Christ puts into action the things He has just taught in His confrontation with the Pharisees.  In this case, He challenges their understanding of the rigidity of the Law by suggesting that the purpose of the Sabbath is to heal and make whole, to enrich and support human life.  Even to save an animal was considered lawful, so how much more value is there in healing a human being?  To do good therefore is not profaning the Sabbath, but lawful.  The Pharisees respond with indignance at this vivid open challenge to their authority.

The Pharisees do not seem to understand that the intent of the Law is every bit as important as the minute and precise following of its details.  These details include their own proscriptions and secondary commentaries on the Law, the product of their endless debates about the commands in the Law.  Jesus will comment regarding their hypocrisy in chapter 15, by quoting from Isaiah:  "These people draw near to Me with their mouth, and honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me.  And in vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men" (from Isaiah 29:13).  He will elaborate specifically regarding their blindness to greater matters and their detailed practices in the whole of Matthew 23.  But today's reading illustrates for us with a memorable example their clear blindness to the greater priorities of the Law.  They don't care about healing, as if it were irrelevant to consider in the context of the aim of the Law.  They care for the observance of details, and their own interpretation of the Law.  In a commentary on Genesis, Fr. Stephen De Young points out in his podcast (found here) that God's priorities which we can read in the story of creation are to take chaos and emptiness ("The earth was without form and void," Genesis 1:2), and to set everything in proper order and fill it with life.  God then gives a similar mission to Adam and Eve, and to humankind by extension.  Jesus demonstrates this principle by healing the man with the withered hand, and therefore shows His own "God-likeness," but the Pharisees are blind to it.  They don't understand the aims of God from the Scriptures because they are so focused on their own particular legalisms, and so Christ's behavior simply makes them incensed.  Jesus sets things in order by prioritizing healing and doing good on the Sabbath, and returns life to the man with the withered hand.  But, as He says in Matthew 23, these men "pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith" (Matthew 23:23).  What they cannot recognize is the true action of Christ, and how it is reflective of the actions of God in the Scriptures which they hold dear, and in which they are the experts.  They are focused too much on legalism, and "cannot see the forest for the trees," so to speak.  As the Gospels tell us, their hearts are hardened in this sense, and Christ's compassion, in defense of life, is only reckoned to them as a challenge to their authority.  It's not the only time in the Gospels in which a healing goes unvalued and undesired.  After Christ's healing of the Gergesene demoniacs, the people there also begged Him to leave them.  In today's reading, Jesus quotes from Isaiah's prophecy:  "I desire mercy and not sacrifice."   This is not a statement against sacrifices, but rather one that clearly gives priorities; for without mercy, sacrifice or hospitality is meaningless.  Let us consider the things that remain the purview and priority of God, as witnessed throughout the Scriptures:  putting things into "right order" and right relationship (or righteousness), and filling with life (creation).  For these are the hallmarks of God and God's work.  Christ's compassion always works on behalf of these priorities.  Let us endeavor to embrace the same. 

 

 

 

 

 

Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls

 

 At that time Jesus answered and said, "I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and have revealed them to babes.  Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in Your sight.  All things have been delivered to Me by My Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father. Nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him.  Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For My yoke is easy and My burden is light."

 

- Matthew 11:25-30 

 

On Friday, we read that the disciples of John the Baptist came to Christ, asking Him if He is the Coming One (the Christ), or if they should look for another, as John the Baptist is now imprisoned by King Herod. Jesus responded by speaking to the people in defense of John the Baptist, and speaking up to those who criticize both He and John (see Saturday's reading).  Yesterday we read that Jesus continued, "But to what shall I liken this generation?  It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to their companions, and saying:  'We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; We mourned to you, and you did not lament.'  For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, 'He has a demon.'  The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, 'Look, a glutton and a winebibber, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!'  But wisdom is justified by all her children."  Then He began to rebuke the cities in which most of His mighty works had been done, because they did not repent:  "Woe to you Chorazin!  Woe to you, Bethsaida!  For if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.  But I say to you, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgment than for you.  And you, Capernaum, who are exalted to heaven, will be brought down to Hades; for if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day.  But I say to you that it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment than for you."

 

 At that time Jesus answered and said, "I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and have revealed them to babes.  Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in Your sight.  All things have been delivered to Me by My Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father. Nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him.  Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For My yoke is easy and My burden is light."  For modern urban readers unfamiliar with this term, a yoke is a wooden crosspiece, attached to a pair of animals and the plow or cart they would pull.  My study Bible comments here that Jesus' yoke is submission to the Kingdom of God.  A yoke could be seen as a sign of hardship, burdens, and responsibilities (1 Kings 12:1-11, Jeremiah 27:1-11, Sirach 40:1).  But in Christ, the yoke is easy, as the power of God works in each person.  Moreover, the reward is infinitely greater than any effort a human being puts forth.  The word Jesus for gentle is literally "meek," as in Matthew 5:5.

My study Bible reminds us, in connection with today's passage and Christ's declaration that He is "gentle and lowly in heart," of Matthew 5:5 (from the Sermon on the Mount).  To remind us, that verse reads, "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth."  My study Bible says that meekness is an attitude of being content with both honor and dishonor.  It is an imitation of Christ, as He indicates here when He says, "Learn from Me, for I am gentle [meek] and lowly in heart."  The meek, my study Bible continues, are God-controlled and have mastery over their passions, especially anger.  It notes that meekness is not passive weakness, but strength directed and under control.  The earth that the meek will inherit is not power or possession in this world, but the new earth, which is everlasting (Revelation 21:1).  In such a case, Christ's "meekness" or gentleness would seem to indicate an acceptance of the realities of this world.  That is, we do not see Him challenging the powers of this world with military might or force, nor with manipulation or coercion, but instead with truth and through living in obedience to God.  Christ teaches us to take up His Cross in this sense, that His yoke is the spiritual life He would teach us, the life of the Kingdom even as we live in this world.  Christ's burden, then, for us, is not a worldly sense of obedience or slavery to an overlord, but rather one that teaches us what it is to do spiritual battle, such as St. Paul speaks of in Ephesians 6:12.  When we take on the yoke of Christ, then, we're given a different kind of life to lead, in which the challenge is learning not to hide from truth, but to embrace it, and to meet the evil things we observe in the world through obedience to Him, which means the weapons of virtue and the choice to follow Him and be like Him.  St. Paul calls this "the whole armor of God" (Ephesians 6:11-20).  In His own gentleness and meekness, Christ meets us where we are, teaching us with love and care and grace, that gentleness touching our own hearts so that we know Him in this way.  We, too, learn the kind of courage He has, through His meekness and gentleness with us, and to meet the world with faith in something more than what we see only with our physical eyes, but also with hope in something greater and transcendent, and nonetheless real and at work within us and among us.  John the Baptist is in prison, and Jesus goes toward the Cross, already facing rejection although He has just sent out the Twelve on their first apostolic mission.  In this "meekness" we also learn persistence and endurance in following His word, being true to something much greater than the "worldly" can offer us.  We learn love and courage, and reliance upon God, and we learn the meekness and gentleness of Christ, who does not flinch from what the world does, but meets it instead with the power of God and God's enduring truth for us.  

We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; We mourned to you, and you did not lament

 

 "But to what shall I liken this generation?  It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to their companions, and saying:  

    'We played the flute for you,

    And you did not dance;

    We mourned to you,

    And you did not lament.'

"For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, 'He has a demon.'  The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, 'Look, a glutton and a winebibber, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!'  But wisdom is justified by all her children."

Then He began to rebuke the cities in which most of His mighty works had been done, because they did not repent:  "Woe to you Chorazin!  Woe to you, Bethsaida!  For if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.  But I say to you, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgment than for you.  And you, Capernaum, who are exalted to heaven, will be brought down to Hades; for if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day.  But I say to you that it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment than for you."

 

- Matthew 11:16-24

 

In Friday's reading, the disciples of John the Baptist came to Jesus, asking if He is the Coming One, or if they should look for another, for John was imprisoned at this time.  On Saturday we read that when they departed, Jesus began to say to the multitudes concerning John:  "What did you go out into the wilderness to see?  A reed shaken by the wind?  But what did you go out to see?  A man clothed in soft garments?  Indeed, those who wear soft clothing are in kings' houses.  But what did you go out to see?  A prophet?  Yes, I say to you, and more than a prophet.  For this is he of whom it is written:  'Behold, I send My messenger before Your face, who will prepare Your way before You.'  Assuredly, I say to you, among those born of women there has not risen one greater than John the Baptist; but he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.  And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force.  For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John.  And if you are willing to receive it, he is Elijah who is to come.  He who has ears to hear, let him hear!" 

 

 "But to what shall I liken this generation?  It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to their companions, and saying:   'We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; We mourned to you, and you did not lament.'   For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, 'He has a demon.'  The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, 'Look, a glutton and a winebibber, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!'  But wisdom is justified by all her children."  Jesus compares His and John the Baptist's critics to children playing a popular game among Jewish children of the time.  The children would divide into two groups.  One would pretend to play musical instruments (for dancing) or to sing (for mourning), and the others were expected to respond.  In this case, He compares them to children complaining that the second group responded in a manner opposite of what would have been expected.  My study Bible comments that Christ draws a parallel to the Jewish leaders who responded wickedly both to John the Baptist as being too ascetic and to Christ as being too liberal in mercy and joy.  But, as Jesus says, wisdom is justified by all her children.  That is, both the ascetic John, and the merciful Christ.

Then He began to rebuke the cities in which most of His mighty works had been done, because they did not repent:  "Woe to you Chorazin!  Woe to you, Bethsaida!  For if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.  But I say to you, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgment than for you.  And you, Capernaum, who are exalted to heaven, will be brought down to Hades; for if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day.  But I say to you that it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment than for you."  My study Bible comments that it is a far greater sin to have seen Christ's works and rejected Him than never to have known Him at all.  

In today's reading, Jesus speaks of the proper response to the grace of God.  Both He and John the Baptist have ministries in which they serve God as they are called.  John was himself deeply ascetic, living in a kind of chosen poverty in order to devote all of his life to God's call.  Christ's ministry appears to be quite different.  As He Himself says, He is criticized for eating and drinking with tax collectors and sinners -- those with wealth, even gained by what are considered to be sinful means (see this reading, in which Matthew the tax collector, our Evangelist, is called by Christ the Physician).  Their ministries bear very little resemblance  to one another, and yet both serve as they are called to do.  For this is the message of God's grace.  In John's chapter 3, Jesus explains to Nicodemus, an important member of the Council who also becomes Christ's follower:  "The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit" (John 3:8).  In other words, God's grace -- the ways in which the Spirit of God works -- is not predictable nor accountable to worldly human standards.  Jesus and John bear very little resemblance to one another in terms of the appearance and type of their ministries, but in fact both work together for God's kingdom, and each is necessary in the unfolding of this story.  Nicodemus himself is an unlikely candidate for us to expect as a devoted follower of Christ, as He is a prominent member of the Council and a Pharisee, and yet he becomes a disciple as well; like Joseph of Arimathea, another wealthy man from Jerusalem, he will show heroism in service to Christ.  What all of these figures have in common, and indeed all the figures we read about who serve Christ and the kingdom, is just that:  a faith that exchanges one life for another, worldly expectations for the service of God, however they are called to do so in life.  For this is the life of faith, and of taking up one's own cross.  Of course, the wonderful message hidden in Christ's words that "wisdom is justified by all her children" is that in the great and awesome creativity of Christ, each unique life and personality gives us a sense of the magnificent beauty and variety of God's kingdom.  As unique and different as each person we read about who serves God, each is called to play their own part in the Body of Christ.  This is the unsurpassed creativity of God, and why we just keep our hearts open to discernment.  The astonishing beauty of God can also be misunderstood and rejected when we allow our own expectations to cloud what grace is revealing to us.  We think of repentance as mourning for sins of the past; but truly another form of repentance is opening one's eyes to God's unexpected grace, and opening to receive as it is given and revealed.  In order to do that, we discard the limitations God challenges within ourselves, and embrace God's way for us.  This is also the way of the Cross, of taking up our own crosses and following Him.  Jesus' great signs do not move the cities He names to that kind of repentance, or "change of mind."  This in itself, as He reveals, becomes a kind of judgment.  They are witness to His miracles, but cannot accept His gospel -- and both are gifts from God.  This is the danger of wanting a god in our own image, one who will simply conform to our demands.  But wisdom is justified by all her children.

But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I say to you, and more than a prophet

 

 As they departed, Jesus began to say to the multitudes concerning John:  "What did you go out into the wilderness to see?  A reed shaken by the wind?  But what did you go out to see?  A man clothed in soft garments?  Indeed, those who wear soft clothing are in kings' houses.  But what did you go out to see?  A prophet?  Yes, I say to you, and more than a prophet.  For this is he of whom it is written:

    'Behold, I send My messenger before Your face,

    Who will prepare Your way before You.'

"Assuredly, I say to you, among those born of women there has not risen one greater than John the Baptist; but he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.  And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force.  For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John.  And if you are willing to receive it, he is Elijah who is to come.  He who has ears to hear, let him hear!"

 

- Matthew 11:7-15 

 

In our recent readings, Jesus has been preparing the Twelve for their first apostolic mission (starting with Monday's reading).  Now it came to pass, when Jesus finished commanding His twelve disciples, that He departed from there to teach and to preach in their cities.  And when John had heard in prison about the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples and said to Him, "Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?"  Jesus answered and said to them, "Go and tell John the things which you hear and see:  The blind see and the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear; the dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached to them.  And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me."   

 

 As they departed, Jesus began to say to the multitudes concerning John:  "What did you go out into the wilderness to see?  A reed shaken by the wind?  But what did you go out to see?  A man clothed in soft garments?  Indeed, those who wear soft clothing are in kings' houses.  But what did you go out to see?  A prophet?  Yes, I say to you, and more than a prophet.  For this is he of whom it is written:  'Behold, I send My messenger before Your face, who will prepare Your way before You.'"  Jesus is quoting from the prophesy of Malachi (Malachi 3:1).  It is to the prophesy of Malachi Jesus will also refer when He speaks of Elijah returned a little further along in today's reading.  Here Jesus seems to chastise the people for their expectations of John.  He was not an elegant or elite reed shaken by the wind, nor a man clothed in soft garments. Neither was he one who dwelt kings' houses but rather one who was shut up in a king's prison, as many of the prophets were before him.  

 

"Assuredly, I say to you, among those born of women there has not risen one greater than John the Baptist; but he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he."  My study Bible comments here that in terms of the Old Testament Law, John the Baptist is in fact the greatest prophet of them all.  The New Covenant is of such incomparable value, however, that those who share in the New Covenant are greater than John was without it.  

"And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force."  My study Bible claims that several interpretations have been given to the idea that the kingdom of heaven suffers violence.  It notes that some say that it refers to the Jewish opposition to the gospel. Still others have said it refers to the Kingdom breaking into the world "violently."  In other words, with great power and force.  Still others have said that the Kingdom of heaven refers to Christ Himself, who has been incarnate since the days of John the Baptist, and who will yet suffer the violence of the Cross.  My study Bible also cites the commentary of St. John Chrysostom, who says that the violent who take the Kingdom by force are those with such an earnest desire for Christ that they let nothing stand between themselves and faith in Him.  

"For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John.  And if you are willing to receive it, he is Elijah who is to come.  He who has ears to hear, let him hear!"   The prophesy of Elijah's return before Christ is found in Malachi 4:5-6.  My study Bible comments that John does not ascribe to himself the role of Elijah (John 1:21), but Jesus does.  It notes that John fulfilled the mission of Elijah (Luke 1:17, 76) and his destiny was similar.  But John is honored over Elijah because John prepared the way for the advent of Christ Himself.  

At this time John the Baptist remains imprisoned by Herod Antipas, the "king" or tetrarch of Galilee.  The Gospel will tell us of his violent end in Matthew's 14th chapter.  But Jesus here seems to be chiding the people for what might be a negative opinion of John resulting from his imprisonment.  While John was widely revered as a holy man during his ministry, we know that he was far from being a slender "reed shaken by the wind" or one who wore "soft clothing."  John was known as one so totally dedicated to serving God that he cared for nothing of a worldly type of life.  His was a type of radical poverty in devotion to God's purposes alone.  In chapter 3 Matthew tells us that John was clothed in camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist; and his food was locusts and wild honey (Matthew 3:4).  John himself would become the model for the early monastic life, those who went out into the desert for spiritual battle of the type we read of in Christ's forty days in the wilderness (Matthew 4:1-11).   John's preaching and baptism took place also outside the cities, possibly at "Bethany beyond the Jordan" (John 1:28; see this UNESCO site).   When Jesus compares John to the ones who live in kings' houses, and asks the people what they went out to see, he seems to be addressing criticisms of John which would perhaps be expected within the context of the criticism we know Christ also experienced for His ministry.  Indeed, in our following reading, He will go on to compare both His and John's critics to those playing a children's game.  Possibly we might say these criticisms, like so much of what we will encounter in the Gospels, come from the religious leadership who now criticize John for his rigorous asceticism and rough life, and at the same time criticize Jesus for eating and drinking with tax collectors and sinners (which will also be addressed by Jesus in the reading the follows, on Monday).  We might well ask ourselves the same.  What do we expect followers of Christ to be like?  How would we expect to find those who love Jesus?  Would they be simple people or elegant?  Complex and intellectual, or possibly those who work with their hands?  Of course we cannot prophesy what those people look like or will be like who love Christ, for that is a matter of the heart which is devoted to God, and those spiritual "ears to hear" that Jesus calls upon in us.  In truth, God chooses the vessels God uses, and so often in the Bible those are the least expected, defying common assumptions and judgments; for only God can judge the heart.   Both John and Jesus refer to spiritual fruits in their preaching, and it is only this that teaches us about the grace at work in people.  Perhaps the Gospels teach us, however, that sometimes we need spiritual eyes and ears even to perceive those fruits as well.

And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me

 

 Now it came to pass, when Jesus finished commanding His twelve disciples, that He departed from there to teach and to preach in their cities.  And when John had heard in prison about the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples and said to Him, "Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?"  Jesus answered and said to them, "Go and tell John the things which you hear and see:  The blind see and the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear; the dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached to them.  And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me." 

 

- Matthew 11:1–6 

 

Starting with Monday's reading, we have been given Christ's address to the Twelve as He sent them out on their first apostolic reading.  Yesterday we read that Jesus said to them, "Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth.  I did not come to bring peace but a sword.  For I have come to 'set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law'; and 'a man's enemies will be those of his own household.'  He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me.  And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me.  And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me.  He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it.  He who receives you receives Me, and he who receives Me receives Him who sent Me.  He who receives a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet's reward.  And he who receives a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man's reward.  And whoever gives one of these little ones only a cup of cold water in the name of a disciple, assuredly, I say to you, he shall by no means lose his reward." 

 Now it came to pass, when Jesus finished commanding His twelve disciples, that He departed from there to teach and to preach in their cities.  And when John had heard in prison about the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples and said to Him, "Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?"  My study Bible comments here that, according to the Church Fathers, John the Baptist asks this question in order to guide his own disciples to Jesus.  Moreover, it notes, John's own faith was undoubtedly also strengthened through Christ's response that follows.  

Jesus answered and said to them, "Go and tell John the things which you hear and see:  The blind see and the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear; the dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached to them.  And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me."   My study Bible affirms Isaiah's prediction that these signs would accompany the coming of the Messiah (Isaiah 35:5, 61:1).  Jesus' reference to these signs prophesied by Isaiah is fully meaningful to John the Baptist.  My study Bible adds that Jesus performed these miracles in the presence of John's disciples (Luke 7:21) so they could see with their own eyes works that only the Messiah could do.

 

Jesus tells the disciples of John, "And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me."  We have to ask ourselves why people would be offended at Christ.  There is first of all the notion that people did not want to accept what kind of Messiah He was.  He was not coming in the likeness of a great king like King David, to restore the fortunes of Israel.  He did not have an army, and was not prepared to overthrow the Romans in a political battle.  He would not give "proofs" on demand of His identity, nor produce miracles simply to please people or their expectations.  Rather, He came in the likeness of an ordinary Man, one without great wealth or position, and one without conventional authority.  All of these various aspects of Christ's identity were in some way offensive to various groups of people, and particularly to the religious leadership, who continually questioned His authority and where it came from.  Perhaps the greatest reason for offense was precisely this question of authority, and simply because Christ's authority came from God, and not from worldly sources, like a high position in the temple, or a lineage that Christ would claim for Himself openly.  Instead, Christ's authority was recognized only by faith, by something that responded to God within the hearts of those who would receive Him.  He came in humility, and yet led an astonishing life of ministry.  But still, it takes faith to receive and recognize Him, it takes a true love of God in the heart to receive, a heart open to the spirit of God.  That mysterious question of faith will come up continually, again and again.  Who are the ones not offended because of Him?  This remains a question even for today. 

 

 

Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword

 

 "Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth.  I did not come to bring peace but a sword.  For I have come to 'set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law'; and 'a man's enemies will be those of his own household.'  He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me.  And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me.  And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me.  He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it.

"He who receives you receives Me, and he who receives Me receives Him who sent Me.  He who receives a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet's reward.  And he who receives a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man's reward.  And whoever gives one of these little ones only a cup of cold water in the name of a disciple, assuredly, I say to you, he shall by no means lose his reward."

 

- Matthew 10:34-42 

 

In our current readings, Jesus is speaking to the Twelve preparing them for their first apostolic mission (beginning with Monday's reading).  Yesterday, we read that Jesus told them:  "A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master.  It is enough for a disciple that he be like his teacher, and a servant like his master.  If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more will they call those of his household!  Therefore do not fear them.  For there is nothing covered that will not be revealed and hidden that will not be known. Whatever I tell you in the dark, speak in the light; and what you hear in the ear, preach on the housetops.  And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul.  But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.  Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin?  And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father's will.  But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.  Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.  Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven.  But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven." 

"Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth.  I did not come to bring peace but a sword."  My study Bible comments that, just before His most violent death on the Cross, Christ promised peace to His disciples (see John 14:27).  But the existence of evil, my study Bible explains, necessitates spiritual warfare.  The earth to which Christ came was under the authority of Satan (John 12:31; 2 Corinthians 4:4).  It is therefore essential that Christ wage war against the leader of vice with weapons of virtue (Ephesians 6:11-18).  Jesus has also made a similar statement in Luke 12:51, albeit in a different context.  There my study Bible explains that there are two kinds of peace.   There is a false peace which is a shallow harmony resulting from ignoring issues of truth.  But genuine peace is reconciliation to God through faith in Christ and surrender to truth.  Genuine peace, it explains, has division as as byproduct because not everyone wants truth (the "sword" of Christ; see Hebrews 4:12).  In the fallen world, my study Bible continues, divisions are necessary for truth to be manifest (see 1 Corinthians 11:18-19).  

"For I have come to 'set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law'; and 'a man's enemies will be those of his own household.'  He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me.  And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me.  And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me.  He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it."  My study Bible says that this is a fulfillment of the prophecy of Micah 7:6.  In addition to the literal meaning here, which has been experienced in the Church since the time of Christ, the older generation being divided from the younger also symbolizes the rejection of the new covenant by followers of the old, and also the spiritual struggle between our old sinful state and our renewal in Christ (see Ephesians 4:20-24).  Moreover, my study Bible comments, to carry one's cross, a true disciple must be ready, if necessary, to sacrifice even family relationships.  

"He who receives you receives Me, and he who receives Me receives Him who sent Me.  He who receives a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet's reward.  And he who receives a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man's reward.  And whoever gives one of these little ones only a cup of cold water in the name of a disciple, assuredly, I say to you, he shall by no means lose his reward."  Apostles, my study Bible states, are ambassadors who represent the Lord.  So, therefore, all who extend help to them are showing mercy directly to Christ and will receive God's reward (see Matthew 25:40).  

Jesus says, "Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth.  I did not come to bring peace but a sword."   What is this sword?  Above, the notes reported from my study Bible tell us that it is Christ's truth, the word of God.  In Hebrews 4:12, St. Paul elaborates on the word of God as a sword:  "For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart."  In that case, the division might be within us, and within others, in this conflict between the old life and the new life, or the ways of the world we've learned and the ways that Christ's word (His truth) give us.  When such a word is spoken, it may create sharp divisions within and among people, families, communities, friendships.  This is because, as St. Paul describes it, Christ's word cuts to the heart of all things, and within people as well.  In Revelation 19, we're told of the Faithful and True, who in righteousness judges and makes war, and His name is called the Word of God.  "Now out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it He should strike the nations. And He Himself will rule them with a rod of iron. He Himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And He has on His robe and on His thigh a name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS" (Revelation 19:15-16).  Clearly we can see the consistency of this "sharp sword" which is the truth of the word of God, which proceeds from His mouth.  And we see, as well, the consistent use of the image of the sword of truth used to wage a kind of spiritual warfare, to reclaim the world from the evil one, as my study Bible explains.  So what is this spiritual warfare, and why is it necessary that we join in this struggle? Spiritual warfare is as simple as my study Bible put it:  we meet "the leader of vice" with weapons of virtue, cited from Ephesians 6:11-18, the "whole armor of God," as St. Paul puts it.  When we, therefore, choose to live as faithful Christians, we are in effect waging this spiritual warfare, and taking up our own crosses, as Christ calls the disciples, and we who follow, to do.  St. Paul writes (in the cited passage from Ephesians 6), "For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand."  When we see tremendous clashes in the world, and the frightening sights that accompany them, then it is time to consider Christ's words and take them very seriously.  He has told the disciples (in yesterday's reading, above) not to fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul.  Rather our deeper reverence is to God.  How can we participate in the spiritual battle to which Christ calls us?  One would suggest clinging to His truth, to the whole armor of God as described by St. Paul, to Christ's word, all the more strongly.  Let us make certain that we take time for prayer, laying all things before God and asking for direction.  Let us not take refuge in following the crowds, indulging in emotional responses which are not the way of Christ.  Let us cling to the righteousness He teaches us.  For this is the division and the sword, and we must make our choice to follow Him.